Cain and Peter

What do those two guys have in common? When God asked Cain where his brother Abel was, Cain's flip reply was, "Am I my brother's keeper?" It is amazing how quickly sin becomes acceptable. His parents hid from God over the eating of the fruit because they knew that He knew. Cain makes no attempt to hide himself after fratricide. When God asked his parents a question they were more naive, betraying their sin by their answer, "I was afraid because I was naked..." They had been naked with God before and unashamed, they had no sense of vulnerability in their nakedness but now something had changed, naked suddenly felt vulnerable. Cain has none of that, he more or less assumes that God either doesn't know what he has done or that it wasn't that big a deal. His attitude is incredibly arrogant.

Peter too denied he was his brother's keeper. When Jesus needed a friend, Peter threw him under the bus to save his own skin. His testimony wouldn't have made any difference in the eventual outcome so he didn't commit murder by his actions, but his denial was a serious betrayal of a friend. Because Jesus had prophesied this in advance, and given the sign of the cock crowing, Peter couldn't hide from the sin. He knew that Jesus knew.

When Peter wrote his epistle, he uses a form similar to what God told Cain, "...sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." Peter told his disciples, "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith..." Peter had been told roughly the same thing by Jesus, that satan desired to sift him like wheat. Both Cain and Peter were men who received grace, unmerited favor, both had done terrible things and both lived to tell about God's grace, but Peter actually did tell about it while Cain thanked his lucky stars and not God and went on doing his own thing.